We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Montressa Hammond a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Montressa , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Towards the end of March in 2021, my family suggested celebrating my stroke recovery and commemorating my one-year stroke anniversary with positivity and love. By this time, I had completed over 50 paintings and decided to sell them at my Stroke of Art Showcase and Celebratory Dinner. The event was a success, all the paintings sold, and feedback received was extremely positive. There was a shift in my mindset, I wanted to see if I could possibly do this as a career, so I challenged myself to throw everything into my art. I had given up on the career path of international business consultant I was previously on because of the aftereffects of the stroke. Leaving the perfect opportunity where I could start from scratch in a different career without any constraints with support from my family and friends. I had no idea if I would succeed but I had to at least try, I had nothing else to lose.

Montressa , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In May 2020, I experienced a stroke on the right side of my brain affecting the left side of my body. While regaining my strength, it was discovered I had lost all understanding of emotions and my ability to communicate was limited, and in response to rising anxiety I became fixated on painting. Having no prior artistic experience, I began painting abstract pieces using bold colors and gradually shifted to seascapes, then portraits. Painting allowed me to express the confusion of emotion I could not put a name to. In January 2021, both my speech therapist and neuropsychologist were regularly utilizing my art within our appointments to support in lessons. The same month I made the tough decision to share my art and story on social media; Stroke of Art was conceived.

I am fascinated and focused on realism, and contemporary pop art. I take actual photographs of people/place /things and paint them to match the emotional connection I have with them. I do the same for my clients, art expresses so much emotion in color and usually if someone can identify with one of my paintings it is because of this one fact. They relate directly to the emotions being depicted and the colors used. I think the entire circumstance in which I began to paint, the hope of triumph it gives others, and lack of having any artistic background prior to my stroke sets me apart from other artists. My passion to learn more about painting and how I’ve been able to use a tragic experience to inspire others is what I am most proud of. To my future potential clients, I want you all to know just when I thought I lost everything, I gained a superpower; now my art speaks louder than my words ever could.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The mission driving my creative journey is to learn anything and everything about painting. After my stroke I thought it was impossible to retain new information. I was wrong, it was difficult and physically challenging but not impossible. Learning new information can cause me to have migraines, fall asleep unexpectedly, have muscle spasms and neuropathy because of nerve damage. Despite all of this I learned new techniques daily by watching YouTube, watching other artists I admire on social media and employing new ideas in practical application. My goal is to create a style of painting unique to me by incorporating different techniques, and different forms of painting.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I have started to do vender fairs to help to get exposure for my business. There has been one that has allowed me to sell more, tell my story and get new social media followers leading to more inquiries about commission paintings. It is called the Spectacular Black Girl Art Show. It is a traveling vender fair marketed toward creating a safe space to showcase local businesses, and black women artist.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/strokeofart.montressa?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=5727489&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Art by Montressa Hammond Photos taken by Bovia & Co. Chloe Bovia Photographer